Professional Returns To Art Of Business

Pete Edwards Has Left The Osceola Center For The Arts To Head The Chamber Of Commerce.

June 13, 1997|By Robert Sargent Jr. of The Sentinel Staff

Osceola County's champion for the arts hopes to paint a new future for the St. Cloud business community.

Pete Edwards, executive director of the Osceola Center for the Arts, has resigned to become president of the Greater Osceola County-St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce. He is expected to start the new job by mid-July.

''This is a good opportunity for me,'' Edwards said. ''I'm very interested in having responsibility for something more than just the arts.''

The 50-year-old professional replaces Paty Wright, who stepped down from the chamber seat in March to work with the Economic Development Commission of Mid-Florida.

''We're very proud that Pete has accepted this opportunity,'' said Robert Bass, chairman of the St. Cloud chamber. ''He has a sincere interest in our community and he really wants to get back into chamber work.''

Edwards was president of the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce from 1975 to 1978. He helped to create a referendum for Osceola's resort tax and later became the first director of the Kissimmee-St. Cloud Convention and Visitors Bureau from 1978 to 1982.

He spent the next seven years in hotel management. Then he was elected to his first term with the Osceola County School Board in 1990.

Edwards joined the Osceola Center for the Arts in 1991 as interim director. He stayed, bringing the institution out of financial crisis and into the forefront of Edwards' friendly but aggressive management of the center recently came into question. And though he admits to petty squabbling among some members, it reportedly had no influence on his decision to resign.

''The center has gone from being an art center that was in dire straights to one that is very strong and is better than it has ever been before,'' he said. ''They need someone now who can help keep it growing. I hope I can help them find that person.''

The St. Cloud chamber hired Edwards from a field of 40 applicants. His extensive work with the local community made him the natural choice, incoming chairman Ed Smallwood said.

''His chamber experience was something we wanted, but we also liked his knowledge of this area,'' Smallwood said.

Among the issues Edwards will have to tackle at the St. Cloud chamber will be the concerns of small businesses along 13th Street and downtown, the extension of Michigan Avenue and the proposed widening of U.S. Highway 192 east of the city.

''We also need to look at economic development - we want to identify specific kinds of businesses we want to have here,'' Smallwood said.

The chamber position reportedly will pay between $35,000 and $40,000 a year.